All who enter the doors in Holy Trinity Catholic School Division are blessed with being part of our Catholic school’s environment. We have had opportunities for prayer, faith formation and permeation the first half of the 2022-23 school. Following Pope Francis visit to Canada last summer we decided to continue our social justice theme of Rights and Responsibilities, “Walking Together in the Light of Christ” Psalm 89:15.
We have three actions that we are focusing on for the school year. The first action is our Faith Formation. We continue to collaborate with our staff, students, and families alongside our parish communities in supporting with Faith Formation. We have planned four meetings this year with our vice principals as our faith leaders in each school. This year we added a lead teacher at each school to help support faith formation and permeation. The vice principals and lead teachers met together with the parish priests in the Fall to discuss how we can work together in each of our three communities this year. They planned dates for school masses, reconciliation, and classroom and school visits.
Vice principal Troy Froehlich, Father Nestor Gregoire, and Lead Teacher Joseph Jakubowski
We thank God for our clergy who attend our Faith leadership meetings to help guide us and support our schools with their faith formation. Father Nestor did a presentation before Advent giving us a deeper understanding about Advent. Deacon Lamont is joining us for our February meeting to talk about the season of Lent. These presentations give us more knowledge, understanding and ideas to share with our school communities.
Faith Formation Staff and Students
This year our staff and students participated in retreats. We had face2face ministry lead the retreats in all our elementary schools this year. These retreats helped energize us and get us excited about our faith through stories, prayers, and songs. The theme this year was. “We Are Made for More.” Students and staff sang, “Jesus fill my mind, Jesus fill my heart, Jesus fill my words, Jesus fill my actions.” The elementary school retreats aligned beautifully with our theme reminding us that we are not alone. “We are Walking Together in the Light of Christ.”
The Archdiocese retreat team led elementary staff retreats based on our theme. Michelle Braden presented the power of prayer and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. We prayed for each other, our families, and our students. We talked about hope and that like the builders of the great Cathedrals in Europe we might never see the difference we are making in a student’s life. We are not invisible, and we are making a difference everyday praying with and for our students and families.
Staff Retreat at Church of Our Lady led by Michelle Braden at the Archdiocese.
Father Nestor joined us for the afternoon.
The high school has a ministry team that leads the grade 9 retreat and other faith formation activities in the school. The grade 10 and 11 students will have the opportunity to have a retreat led by the archdiocese youth retreat team. The Chaplain and the grade 12 Catholic Studies teachers lead the grade 12 retreat. This is a God moment where students and teachers come together to sum up their 4 years of high school and are reminded as they go out into the world they are “Walking Together in the Light of Christ.”
We are working on supporting new teachers in our school division in faith formation. We have three sessions planned this year bringing together new teachers to create an understanding about what it means to teach in a Catholic School. We share resources and talk about ways to permeate our faith throughout the day in all subject areas.
We continue to develop our relationship with each of our parishes. Each school in Holy Trinity Catholic School Division has a mass that they are responsible to help lead at their parish on a Saturday or Sunday celebrating the feast day or their school. The school staff, students and families provide readers, greeters and a choir for the schools that have a choir.
We had the Epiphany chalking at each of our schools and division office this year. Deacon Lamont led them in Moose Jaw, Father Melchor blessed Christ the King School in Shaunavon, and the Vice Principal led the chalking at All Saints in Swift Current.
Liturgies, prayers, and Christmas concerts throughout the year help us to permeate our faith into other subject areas. Schools were excited to be “Walking Together in the Light of Christ”, this Advent Season. We celebrated weekly liturgies and masses led by each of our 4 parish priests. These were recorded and shared with the schools to get a reflection from four different priests during Advent. Students and teachers had an opportunity to see other schools, churches, staff and students from the different Catholic schools in our division.
Orange Shirt Day Liturgies – Every Child Matters
Faith Community Partnerships
We had our annual Moving in Faith walk this Fall in Moose Jaw and Swift Current in the Fall 2022. Families and staff come together to build community and reflect on scripture passages during their walk. Families donated items for the Food Banks in both communities.
Shaunavon had a moving in Faith Winter Festival which had a great turn out of parents, grand parents and Father Melchor. Staff and families from the school and the parish came together to skate, go on wagon rides, play kickball in the snow. There was a grandma who made candied snow for everyone.
St Mary elementary school partnered up with Church of Our Lady collecting clothing for families for the Good Shepherd Centre at the Church.
The elementary schools collected food for the food banks and put togerther Christmas hampers for families in the community during Advent.
The first half of the school year Holy Trinity Catholic School Division has been blessed working together in our schools building community with our schools, parishes and communities around us. We give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever (Psalm 107.1) . Thank you God for the gift of Catholic Education, “We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). As we continue to work together on our theme of Rights and Responsibilities. “Walking Together in the Light of Christ.” (Psalm 89:15). We pray for continued guidance from our Lord Jesus Christ as we pastorally walk with all who enter our schools.
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